Qtrax appears ready to take on the iTunes Store with its online music service. Instead of selling songs, however, Qtrax claims it will offer unlimited and free music downloads from all of the major labels loaded with embedded commercials and DRM copy protection.

The company is set to let users download its software at midnight on Monday, and claims that its music tracks will be playable on Apple's iPod up through April 15. Exactly how Qtrax plans to make its DRM-laden songs play on the iPod since Apple doesn't license its FairPlay copy protection technology to other companies.

While Qtrax claims that all of the major record labels are all on board, the contracts apparently are not yet signed. According to Forbes, Warner Music said on Sunday that it "has not authorized the use of our content on Qtrax's recently announced service."

EMI and Universal Music confirmed that they are negotiating with Qtrax, but stated that no contracts have been signed. Qtrax announced in April 2007 that Sony BMG was on board, but the label was not available to confirm that on Sunday.

This isn't the first time Qtrax stumbled coming out of the gate. The music service first launched in 2002, but closed its virtual doors a few months later to avoid legal action because it used a peer-to-peer style model. The company's name resurfaced in mid 2006 with the announcement that it would offer ad-based music downloads for free.

Qtrax claims it will begin offering a Windows version of its music download and player application at midnight EST, and that a Mac version will follow on March 18.